In the last half of the week this week we discussed field studies
that would be great options for high school art classes. We also covered grant writing, and how grants
from the government and large companies can offer funding for these field
studies as well as supplies and visiting artists.
However, our conversation focused mainly on the possibilities
of field studies. Some of the
suggestions made for larger field trips in class were for the Greenville Art
Museum, Gibbes Museum of Art, the city of Charleston, Brookgreen Gardens, the
High Museum of Art, and The Mint Museum.
We also discussed the smaller and more casual trips that could be
arranged with AP classes, art clubs, or National Art Honor Society
members. Some of the possibilities we
talked about were universities, local artists’ studios or workshops, and local
art festivals, among others.
We were prompted to come up with our own destination for a
field study, and support its importance to the curriculum. I personally would love to take a group of
students to the Brookgreen Gardens and Atalaya Castle at Huntington Beach State
Park. When I first visited the Gardens I
was blown away by the sheer size of the place, the number of sculptures, and
the place’s beauty. As a result, I was
very sad to hear that apparently the Gardens and their docents are rather
restrictive to school groups and do not allow students to explore the garden
freely. I would try my best to allow a
group to explore while taking photographs, sketching, painting, and responding
to the works on the grounds – even if it meant having a smaller group. Brookgreen is an important destination for
students because it allows them an opportunity to see more three dimensional
artwork than they may ever see in one location again, to witness various artworks
face-to-face (a truly invaluable experience), to gather inspiration from
fantastic works of art, a beautiful landscape and interesting wildlife, and to
see that artwork does not have to exist within the sometimes stuffy and sterile
environment of the art gallery. Experiencing
sculpture is very difficult in the classroom because no image or projection can
really do justice to a work that you see in-the-round. Pictures in textbooks, on the internet, and
in slideshows cannot give students an accurate sense of form, scale,
proportion, or texture. In addition, the
students would be able to explore a variety of the visual arts standards that
relate to different sculpture techniques, how the elements and principles
relate to these works, how the context (culturally and historically) in which
an artwork was produced effects the work, and ways in which the sculptures
relate to the rest of the garden and the world at large. In short, any and all of the standards for
high school art education could be covered on a trip to Brookgreen Gardens.
Below are a handful of images of the gardens gathered
from across the internet:
